A Letter From Karl Korsch

[The following letter, enclosing (a translated) article by Lain Diez (which follows the letter) was received from Karl Korsch. As it is self-explanatory, we give it no further introduction.— Editor.]

Boston, Mass., U.S.A.,
May 3, 1948

Dear Friend:
Though it might have been wiser to look through the last issues of your paper first, I decided not to postpone any longer my long-delayed plan of writing to you directly. Up to now I heard from you only indirectly, and I read with interest such issues of your paper as were given to me either by my friend Paul Mattick or by the Boston friends who publish The Western Socialist. You need not be told, I think, that my connection with the latter is merely personal, and is not based on any theoretical or political agreement. What separates us can perhaps be most easily expressed by a phrase which I keep repeating to my dear friend, George Gloss–that his group represents, at best, the ideas of the revolution of the 19th century, while I am only interested in that of the 20th century.

Maybe, I should state first in detail who I am, and give you a historical analysis of the long development through which I changed from a member (though an oppositionist member even then) of the English Fabian Society in 1912-14 to a member of the German Independent Social Democratic Party during the first World War, and from there through a short enthusiastic adherence to the party of Lenin to an "ultra-leftist" opposition, first from within, afterwards from without the party, and from there further on, during the last 20 years, to a new positive which seems to me in many ways similar to your present tendency as reflected by your issue of December, 1947–the last, so far, that I have seen. I think, however, that you are more or less aware of all the relevant shades of the present development, and thus probably know more about me than I could tell you in a short letter. I should not neglect, though to tell you that I enjoyed your reprinting of my review of Trotsky's book, and so many pieces by Mattick and Pannekoek. Just now I should be busy writing a review of the English edition of Pannekoek's excellent criticism of Lenin's philosophy for the Western Socialist. yet I find it difficult to do so, since I said most of the things I had to say in my earlier review of the German text that appeared in Vol. IV, No. 5, of "Living Marxism," in 1938.

If I wanted to improve on that now, after 10 years, I would have to deal with the newest attack of Positivism against Marxism that is contained in K. R. Popper's two volumes on The Open Society and Its Enemies that appeared in London (George Routledge and Sons Ltd.) in 1945, and which I got only now, after it had been reprinted in 1947. I find this book very loathsome, however, though it is ably written and has made a deplorably strong impression on some former leftists of the Pannekoek-Mattick stamp.
Thus I find it difficult to make me read it through, and this again, up to now, has kept me from writing the review I had promised both to Mattick and the W.S. for the purpose of promoting the sale of Pannekoek's valuable book.
If and when I write the review I shall send you a copy forthwith, since it is quite possible that the W.S. will find my review "too academical and too confused" again–as they did in regard to my review of Trotsky's book, and I really cannot blame them for thinking so from their own particular viewpoint.

I am absorbed, at present, in two different kind of studies, which will appear first in the German language, and in which I try to trace both the final results of the "Marxist" era of the workers' movement to the original theory and practice of Marx: 1) before, during and after 1848; 2) during the period of the W.M.I.A. in the 60's and 70's.
I'll send you copies of what is ready as soon as I manage to translate into English. (In case you can get German MSS. translated down under, I'd send you quite a selection of new and old writings which might be of interest to you–but I am afraid that cannot be done, and it is well nigh impossible for me to get copies of my English writings of the last 10-15 years myself.)
[We have written and told K.K. that it can be done by two comrades in Melbourne. K. J. Kenafick is particularly able, and is also intensely interested in Bakunin; he has a Bakunin book now in the press.—Editor.]

In connection with the above described studies I plan to write on the theories of Bakunin, and more particularly on his theory of the State as presented in a book of 1878 which is widely unknown and does not exist in any non-Russian edition except in one of the Spanish editions which is nearly unobtainable, too.

Thus it will take some time before I overcome the linguistic difficulties. I learnt Spanish now, and can read the Spanish translation myself, but I need help for the original Russian version, and I have to get photostatic copies of it because I can borrow the book itself only for a limited period, which is nearly exhausted. There are a few articles in which I dealt with the subject in the German periodical Die Aktion in 1928 and 1931, but they have not been translated. So I was quite glad when Lain Diez sent me his article on the Interpretation of the Paris Commune, and I translated it into English myself, first from a French translation, and now from the Spanish original version, which turned out to be far better than the French version.

I also made a few changes, with the consent of the author (whom I do not know in person).

I enclose a copy of this article with a view to publication in your paper if you think that you can do so. In spite of certain obvious shortcomings, I think that the little article is well written and approaches certain important questions in a manner which might interest people who have not yet freed themselves from the Marx-Lenin-Trotsky legend to the same extent as you or I might claim it for ourselves.—Comradely greetings,

Karl Korsch.